Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves

Henry David Thoreau

Alright, you read body type so what comes to mind? Honeslty, same! I didn’t know what was meant before doing some research of my own.

Body Types or Somatotypes was introduced in the 1940s but yet I never saw it in a textbook or heard it in a physical education class. There are 3 body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. Ectomorphs are typically long and lean with little to no body fat and little muscle and have the hardest time gaining weight. Mesomorphs are that athletic, solid build that seem to be able to be a lot more flexible when dieting and cut and bulk easily. Finally, we have the endomorph who tends to have lots of body fat and muscle and gains weight very easily (it’s a me).

So what does this mean? For ectomorphs that means consuming additional calories. That means eat a lot of proteins and carbs, regularly lift heavy, and don’t overdo aerobic activities ( as the joke goes just lift a little faster). Endomorphs find it to be the complete opposite. They benefit most from lifting weights and minimal rest between sets(check out HIIT). Personally, I find that lifting and then 30 minutes of cardio after does the trick for me. If you find yourself not seeing results (me rn) it’s probably a dieting issue. The road to fitness is 80% dieting and 20% exercise. What I’ve come to note through error is while I am eating cleaner, the main factor in fat loss is calorie deficit. You have to be sure to be in that deficit and due to my change to eating clean I neglected focus on portion control and calorie counting. This explains why I have been toning up, clothes fit better but the scale isn’t leaning in the direction I’d prefer.

Finally, we have the mesomorphs. If you’re one of those people that feel you don’t really fluctuate extremely in any direction and cutting and/or bulking doesn’t come hard to you, this is you. Mesomorphs fall in the middle and so they need both lift and perform cardio regularly with balanced focus. I want to also bring light that this is just the basic breakdown. You can be in between 2 as the bodybuilding.com quiz I took told me I’m 50% endomorph and 50% mesomorph. I’ve heard from friends that their bodies burn one food group faster than others and how one can retrain the body when it comes to converting fuel( Macros guys! They’re important but doesn’t mean I can teach you about them yet!) Just remember to keep at it and trust the process! The Will of Fire rises!